Bafflements Games (Formerly History Mystery) - "MI9: Evade & Escape"
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Bafflements Games (Formerly History Mystery) - "MI9: Evade & Escape"

Updated: 22 hours ago


Photo above is property of History Mystery


Company: History Mystery

Games: MI9: Evade & Escape

Country: United Kingdom 🇬🇧

Language: English

Type of Game: DIY Escape Kits 🖨️✂

Genre: War

Date Played: January 25, 2021

Difficulty (based on 5 players): 6/10

Size of Team: Up to Logins (Suggested 2-6 players)

Time: 90 Minutes (Approximately)

Price: £14.99 (Including VAT), Print & Post (UK only) - £24.99 (Including VAT)


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You're trapped behind enemy lines but luckily you have been trained to evade capture by the special division MI9. By using the right tools and the help from the proper personnel, you'll be able to make it back home safely. Hopefully you won't be stumped by these puzzles ahead...


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Once you've purchased the game, an instruction email will be send you. In the email, you'll find a link to a PDF (make sure you let your teammates know to save the file as there's a limit to the amount time you can download it) and a link to the game's online platform. Once you activate that link, you'll have only 24 hours to finish the game. It's best to prepare the paper materials prior to the start of the game. There were a good amount of pages you'll need to cut and assemble (sticky tape required).


The login works for up to 6 players. The game is not synced so each player will have to enter their own password in order to move forward to the next segment of the game. It's best to set up a Zoom call with your group so you can keep each other informed and move forward together. There are audio components in the game so we suggest headphones if possible.


The paper clues are to be used in conjunction with the website. The website is the main hub for entering solutions. There are puzzles that are independent from the paper clues but most of them will need the paper clues as well. You'll know which paper clue to use with which puzzle as they are clearly numbered on the online platform and on the PDF itself.



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The puzzles worked really well with the storyline. The game started with us having to find a safe route to get out of our current location. There are various routes we would have to choose from but only the ones that avoided enemy detection was the right one to use. We also had to be in disguise and select only the most important tools to take with us on this journey. There were also various codes we had to decipher in order to receive the secret messages. It was quite genius the way the creators were able to make puzzles that were build on top of real history. We also enjoyed some of the cool visual reveals done by the construction of the paper clues. If you get stuck, there are build-in hints available on the online platform.


Photos above are property of ESCAPETHEROOMers


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The creators did a great job with the visuals and audio aspect of this game. It felt like we were taken back to the WWII era. MI9 was a secret department in the British military between 1939 and 1945. During WWII, it helped a lot of prisoners of war escape POW camps and return home to safety. This game really captured the history in the remaking. We loved learning about true events through the format of puzzles (only if my social study in high school was like this!) If you are a history lover and enjoy puzzling on the side, you'll really have a lot of fun with this adventure!


𝔼𝕊ℂ𝔸ℙ𝔼𝕋ℍ𝔼ℝ𝕆𝕆𝕄𝕖𝕣𝕤❜ ℙ.𝕀.𝕤❜ 𝕋𝕙𝕠𝕦𝕘𝕙𝕥𝕤

David M.


MI9: Evade & Escape is a play at-home escape featuring a nice mix of digital and printable elements, both complementing each other very well. At times you are on the website looking for clues and listening to well recorded audio narration, but the big focus is all the printed pages with graphics and imagery that makes sense. There are pages where you have to cut out the images, and construct them into three dimensional structures. Not knowing how much time we needed to prepare, and do all the cutting caused a little sense of panic, but it was fine in the end.


Despite the game feeling a bit long, where we escaped at the 90-minutes mark, all the interactive nature of the pintables and game play kept me interested. There was a huge variety of styles of puzzles, all of which gave a good challenge. Hovering over all of this is a history lesson of events during World War 2. The three different households solving this game as a team, it worked well over a video call. It was fun, great job!


Jess A. & Matt L.


Pros:

  • This was our first print and play escape room and it was a great introduction

  • History elements were accurate and interesting

  • Following the route of an operative's escape was a clever narrative device and helped feel like we were moving forward in the game

  • There was a good variety of puzzle types

  • The bean tin decoder idea was great, loved the initial pun password idea

Cons:

  • Too much paper - felt like we were wasting trees and it was hard to keep it all organized. Some puzzles (the parachute, the bean tin, the flight path) were really great to have physically, but elements like the maps and the money would have been just as effective if they were incorporated into the digital elements.

  • Some puzzles felt like there was more opportunity to be a puzzle rather then just clicking or circling answers

  • No stats or information on time after you finish

 

Disclosure: We thank History Mystery for providing us with samples of the game. Although a complimentary experience was generously provided, it does not impact our opinion on the review whatsoever.



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